The balancing of high speed rotary cutting tools, that is tools that typically turn 10,000 to 20,000 rpm, is very important. If a high speed rotary cutting tool is allowed to operate in an unbalanced state this will result in oscillating forces being created by the tool assembly due to the centrifugal force effect of the unbalance. This typically leads to premature bearing wear or failure and machine vibrations which result in uneven cutting action.
To minimize the unbalanced effects on the tool assembly, the assembly must be accurately balanced. This usually entails a balancing operation each time there is a significant change (e.g. changing tools or reshaping the same tool) in the tool assembly. It is not uncommon to find a tool itself out of balance and it is often difficult to precisely place the cutting tool where its axis is exactly aligned with the axis of the rotary tool holder. Due to the frequent need for rebalancing, there is a need for an efficient, integral, adjustable and accurate balancing system for such high speed rotary cutting tools.
There are commercially available balancing units which allow for quick and accurate measurements of the amount of unbalance in a tool holder and tool assembly. But the problem again is providing a quick and efficient mechanism for accomplishing the balancing operation.
There have been various attempts at designing rotary tool balancing systems. One such design comprised three or more radially screws which are moved radially, inwardly and outwardly, from the axis of the tool holder. This approach is often tedious because typically the various screws making up the mechanism have to be moved by different amounts. In addition, this approach is quite limited in the amount of unbalance that can be corrected without adding more screws and making the method even more complicated and tedious.
A second balancing approach found in the prior art is a system that utilizes two or more movable weights. In this design, the weights are moved to specific positions on a given diameter in order to balance the tool. There are many disadvantages to this approach. Often such a movable weight design is expensive to manufacture, especially those designs that incorporate rings and grooves, etc. Finally, in certain balancing systems incorporating movable weights it can be difficult to incorporate the design within the structure of the tool holder and still be within an industry standard tool envelope (such as ANSI and ISO) for that type of tool.
Finally, it has been known to utilize cooperating open type rings about the axis of a rotating tool holder to achieve a final tool balance. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,144. This design also has drawbacks. As suggested in this disclosure, the opened balancing rings are actually tied together and cannot be moved and adjusted independently. This limits the versatility of this balancing approach since the individual balancing element cannot be moved completely independently of each other. Besides this, the total balancing mechanism is complicated and expensive to manufacture.